McLaren F1 Replica That Actually Looks Good And Is Also Fast: Video

Eight years ago, rabid Top Gear fan Jacek Mazur set out to build a replica of his dream car, the McLaren F1. We first heard about Mazur and his ambitious project back in 2011, but now the Polish amateur mechanic has finally completed the car.

Mazur’s F1 replica is likely to fool even an expert on initial glance; that’s because the car not only looks accurate--it even has a center-mounted driver’s seat--but it’s also incredibly quick. According to Carsguide, the car can reach a top speed of almost 200 mph.

Rather than sourcing one of the original BMW V-12s fitted to the F1, Mazur’s replica relies on an Audi V-8. The engine is mounted to a custom tubular steel chassis and the rest of the car was finished using mostly scrap parts. The brakes, for example, are sourced from an old Mercedes-Benz.

In all, Mazur spent about 100,000 Polish zloty to build the car (approximately $32,800), which is a fraction of the cost of the real thing. McLaren F1s retail for millions these days as only 72 road-legal versions were built during the car’s short production run, and of these eight are impossible-to-get special editions.

Mazur, a health and safety advisor by trade, has a lot of experience in building his own cars. Prior to the F1, he built a number of replica versions of other supercars including the Lamborghini Countach and Porsche 911.